<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Breaking Apart by Duganator01</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27113129">Breaking Apart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duganator01/pseuds/Duganator01'>Duganator01</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>RWBY Oneshots [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Daemons, Angst, Daemons, Depression, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Suicidal Thoughts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:08:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,458</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27113129</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duganator01/pseuds/Duganator01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaune Arc is having a certified Bad Time, and that’s putting it lightly.</p><p>Cheating his way into Beacon, he just alienated the only person who cares about him, his daemon isn’t settled yet, and now he’s being blackmailed by Cardin on top of everything. So yeah. He’s having a bad time.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jaune Arc &amp; Cardin Winchester, Jaune Arc &amp; Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc &amp; Pyrrha Nikos &amp; Lie Ren &amp; Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Platonic but can be read as romantic - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>RWBY Oneshots [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558006</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Breaking Apart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>When you try your best, but you don’t succeed</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Oh gods. Oh gods he’d really fucked up now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was all Jaune could think as he watched Cardin slink back over the edge of the roof.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well that went well,” his daemon muttered beside him, still laying sprawled in rabbit form where Cardin’s pit bull daemon had tossed her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up, Ally,” Jaune replied, barely even registering what he was saying. Oh gods what had he done? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around them and buried his face in his arms. Curling up into a ball never to move again seemed like the best course of action he could possibly take right then. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe if he couldn’t see the world, then he could pretend the world wasn’t happening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Altoria huffed and limped closer to him, shifting into a beagle as she did so. As she nuzzled up into his side, Jaune couldn’t help but notice that she was picking smaller forms than usual.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t deny that the events of the evening had made him feel drained, so maybe that was it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hadn’t been small before, when he’d been ranting at Pyrrha. But most of that was a blur, and would probably remain so until he managed to calm down and sort through his thoughts. All he could remember for now was that his angry biting words had been echoed in deep growls from the raised hackles of his daemon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then Cardin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh gods Cardin </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> that he’d lied to get in here. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that was bad. That was </span>
  <em>
    <span>disastrous</span>
  </em>
  <span>. As if Cardin didn’t have enough on him already what with everyone in Beacon and their moms knowing that Jaune hadn’t settled yet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaune didn’t know if something was wrong with him that it had been almost refreshing that Cardin at least hadn’t bothered to pretend that he could possibly be a competent leader without a settled daemon. After all if he wasn’t even mature enough to have settled, then how could he possibly be reasonably trusted with the lives of three other people?!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>On some deeper level, he felt like somehow lying to Pyrrha and his team and his friends was worse than Cardin having one more thing to torment him over. Lying to Pyrrha, and then </span>
  <em>
    <span>shouting</span>
  </em>
  <span> at Pyrrha like this was all somehow her fault.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaune only realized he was shaking when Altoria whined and pushed closer up to his side. “Oh gods Ally what’re we gonna do?” he murmured into his arms, still unable to look at her. His voice was shaking, but there was nobody around to hear him, and anyways he couldn’t find the energy to care about appearances at this point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We could do what we should have from day one and go tell Ozpin or Goodwitch what’s going on,” Altoria suggested, and Jaune huffed out a laugh. Yeah right was he gonna do that. No way would that fix anything, it would just get him kicked out for his trouble.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Some leader he was, huh?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lifting his head from his arms, he stared dully out over the roof towards where Cardin had disappeared. Maybe he was still there listening, but honestly Jaune doubted it. He’d done his bit, why stick around for the aftermath?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And what an aftermath it was. Jaune had for once done a real neat job of what he’d set out to do. He’d wanted to be left alone to fend for himself, and he’d quite efficiently alienated the only person left on his side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now after Cardin had taken his shattered psyche and well and truly smashed it to bits, there was nobody left to pick up the pieces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaune lurched to his feet and gazed out over the roof towards the distant tower. Green glow in a silhouette of spires and towers, with the moon shining brilliantly behind it. A picturesque sight that only served to remind him of the looming shadow the headmaster cast over this school, and how truly deep the hole was that Jaune had dug himself into.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wandered over to the edge of the roof and swung his legs over as he sat down. Altoria settled down next him, perhaps not as close to the edge as he was. Not like it would matter to her, she could just shift into a bird if she fell anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cardin knew about his transcripts. He knew, and he was holding them over his head like that damn mace from combat class. Goodwitch had called off that fight before Cardin had been able to make the finishing blow, but afterwards, Jaune hadn’t known whether he was grateful or upset.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking out into the crowd of his peers as Goodwitch explained clinically just how much of a fuck up he was. Jaune had only been able to hold Pyrrha’s clear green gaze for a few seconds before he’d been forced to look away. He’d have given anything to just sink into the stage never to be seen again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then after tonight...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you think Ally,” he said, leaning forward as far as he dared to look over the edge. “Think we should take the express way down?” He chuckled to himself, but his laugh sounded thin even to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jaune!” Altoria yanked on the hood of his sweatshirt to jerk him back again and then glared at him. Then, as a robin, she swooped in front of his face to flutter angrily as she said. “Don’t even joke about that, what the heck?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m kidding! I’m kidding.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wasn’t. He almost was, but he wasn’t. And Altoria knew that, because she </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> him. She knew him better than anyone else in the world, better than even he knew himself, so she definitely knew when he was lying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaune thought he heard a chuckle from the open window beneath them. But that was probably just his imagination.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gazed bleakly out over the darkening sky for a moment. Lights were starting to flick off as teachers went home and students went to bed. He didn’t even try to pretend that his team might be getting worried about him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pyrrha had probably already told them all about their little argument on the roof. And she was perfectly entitled to, as what exactly he’d said to her was starting to trickle back into his mind. So they’d definitely realized how much a failure he was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They weren’t stupid, after all. After how abysmally he’d been performing in class, and how he’d so easily let Cardin push him around, they’d probably already come to the correct conclusion. Tonight was just the cement to seal the deal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And now he couldn't even explain himself if he wanted. Because if he did, then Cardin would probably sell him out to Goodwitch because of what great “friends” they were. Jaune had to do what the taller boy said or risk expulsion or worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How cowardly was it of him to say that? Some leader he was. Too scared to own up to his own mistakes and accept the consequences, because he might lose the only real friends he’d ever known.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well congratulations, Jauney Boy,” whispered a voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Cardin, “You’ve already done that yourself with no help from me at all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Standing again, and casting one last almost wistful look over the darkening skyline, he turned back towards the rooftop door where Pyrrha had exited who knew how long ago. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, Ally,” he sighed, feeling his daemon settle onto his shoulder from the way her wings brushed his cheek. “Let’s go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’re you doing?” she asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna do Cardin’s stupid homework, what do you think?” he mumbled, yanking the door open and disappearing into the stairwell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No you can’t really-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Ally, I am!” he snapped over the echoing sound his footsteps made against the concrete walls. The sound was echoing around in his head, in his heart. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was still shaking. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to do this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s no other option, Ally.” Jaune’s voice was cracking again, and he stopped on a landing. “He’s got us trapped in a corner, so I’ve just… gotta do what he says…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Altoria flapped her wings once, and shifted into a hummingbird to look him right in the eyes from midair. She hesitated. He could see her hesitating, even through what definitely </span>
  <em>
    <span>weren’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> tears in his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine,” she said eventually, and clearly reluctantly. She buzzed forward and pecked him sharply in the cheek with her beak before settling in his hair. “But let it be known that I’m not happy about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaune sighed and continued down the stairs, a weight like lead settling in his stomach. “Yeah. Yeah me neither, Ally.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>